This is not what I tend to talk about but it's something I've thought about. I believe I did post a drawing of the rashidun caliphate before this but I need to redesign it.
A friend once asked about the rashidun caliphate and our opinions in depicting it. This is because the rashidun caliphate is defined by the four caliphs who ruled it, Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, Umar al-Khattab, Uthman ibn Affan, and Ali ibn Ali Talib.
In the Sunni beliefs of Islam, these caliphs are called the rashidun caliphs because the word rashidun mean 'the rightly guided'. All four caliphs were close companions of the Prophet Muhammad and were thought to be the most knowledgeable of the religion. The prophet Muhammad before he died was the leader, and after he died the question of his successor came up because they believed that the prophet didn't leave any direct successors. So they held a meeting and a vote, the first caliph was Abu Bakr.
However, in the Shi'ah belief, there was no dispute as to the successor because they believe the prophet left his cousin Ali as his rightful successor. So they do not see the previous three caliphs as the rightly guided.
The civil war near the end of the caliphate, was caused by the first fitnah and also furthered the divide between Sunni and Shi'ah. After the civil war, and Ali was killed by a Kharijite (a breakaway group from the Shi'ah who rebelled against Ali), Mu'awiyah ibn Abi Sufian became caliph, and this is where the Umayyad Dynasty is said to begin. The system before this was via a vote amongst the Shura (consultative council). But after Mu'awiyah, it became hereditary, mainly to prevent further disputes on the successor.
Apologies, I got sidetracked. But my friend's understanding was that the rashidun caliphate is heavily tied to the actual historical leaders of it. The Rashidun are the caliphs. So how would you depict the rashidun caliphate as a personification?
I imagine the Ch in my au as naturally occuring. Imagine a world where there are things that represent a certain community, region or nation. Having such a representation gives more credit to the community and it's legitimacy for any politics. They are also not the leaders of whatever they represent. That task is given to a human. So, there would likely be one for the rashidun caliphate, especially since it expanded.
But what does this representative do?
In a political relational sense, they are more of a diplomat or an emissary. In a military sense, they would be the flag bearer, the one holding the symbol of the caliphate. And they don't have to be completely left out on the governance. They can be a part of the Shura. So they are not completely useless and do not take too much away from the original caliphs.
That's all I wanted to share, have a nice day
